Photo by the amazing Victoria Masters of Stadiums & Shrines [click for hi-res]
I’m proud to debut this amazing motion collage by Nathaniel from Think or Smile for one of the stand-out tracks on Holy Spirit’s The Afternoon’s Blood. White Walls, as you may know, means a great deal to me, and to see Nathaniel’s interpretation of this arresting song turn out so beautiful, really does my heart good.
Collaboration, to me is like crafting a samurai sword. Each time you fold the steel upon itself it gets stronger and stronger, until finally it becomes one of the strongest most durable and beautiful works of art imaginable. Nathaniel re-imagining White Walls visually is just another fold in the steel making the original even stronger and richer.
So, kind of a time for reflection on the year past, as well as a celebration of it’s ending and the new year to come.
I lost some important people from my life this year. Nothing so dramatic as deaths, but just… Movings apart. It served as a reminder of how rare those that unflinchingly support all the little crazy things that I do, those core that are still my close friends after all these years, and how treasured they are by me.
So when I was approaching this mix, those that I invited to be a part of this year end mix are the colleagues on both the blog side, and artist side that have become more than just another voice, but one I am happy to claim a little more than a passing kinship with. If I could throw an online christmas party, they would be the first to receive invites… But since I can’t, this is it.
As with We Get By Vol 1, I asked each person involved to submit their favorite (downloadable) song of the year, and, if they felt so inclined, a top ten as well. Hearing what excited them about the year this way was a pleasure for me, and I hope it will be for you all as well.
Below are the individual song selections by blog, a blurb about it, and a top list of their choice. If you don’t already follow these blogs, treat yourself, I swear by each of them. And if you haven’t already checked out the artists, do so post-haste.
Nathaniel from Think Or Smile also came through again with another beautiful collage for the artwork. He’s brilliant and if all comes to pass, soon my wall will soon be adorned with various pieces of his art.
May your holidays be perfect, and perhaps brightened a bit by this parting gift from us, as we wish goodbye to this year, and look forward to the next.
We Get By… With A Little Help
Volume 2
Years End 2010
1. The Radio Dept “Heaven’s On Fire” Selected By No Modest Bear
2010 was the year when The Radio Dept. finally got the worldly recognition they deserve. Their already awesome catalogue got extended with a perfect album, an incredibly moving song in conjunction with the Swedish election, and a simply great EP - and it all started back in January with an unforgettable intro starring Thurston Moore talking about youth culture and big business.
In an interview with Mecca Lecca, frontman Johan Duncanson tells us:
“We agree with Thurston Moore when he says that we should destroy the bogus capitalist process that is destroying youth culture. However, since we’re extremely lazy people we leave the destruction to others and play pop music instead.”
1. The Radio Dept. - Clinging to a Scheme 2. Games - That We Can Play EP 3. Clive Tanaka y su orquesta - Jet Set Siempre 1 4. Star Slinger - Volume 1 5. Museum of Bellas Artes - Days Ahead EP 6. Chad Valley - Chad Valley EP 7. Shine 2009 - Associates EP 8. Delorean - Subiza 9. Memoryhouse - The Years EP 10. Selebrities - Ladies Man Effect EP 11. Blackbird Blackbird - Summer Heart 12. Blue Hawaii - Blooming Summer 13. Com Truise - Cyanide Sisters EP 14. Teengirl Fantasy - 7AM 15. Toro y Moi - Causers of This
“Tattooed Tears” first ran me over (like it did most others) with its music video and self-setup: “a dreamy pop song about Morrissey and Latino gangsters”. A concept so well ingrained that the infectious nature of this song in and of itself may have initially been taken lightly. But that melody still circles the racetrack of my mind, leaving trails of serotonin, demanding more and more victory laps, now six months later. Its vocal bounce and heavy bass still tap that bittersweet memory bank like all good Smiths tunes tend to do. And its humbled origins remain just as poignant and endearing. Four kids in Japan wrote one of the year’s finest.
15. Active Child - Curtis Lane EP 14. Clive Tanaka y su orquesta – Jet Set Siempre 1° 13. RxRy – Ω 12. Gem Club - Acid and Everything EP 11. Foxes in Fiction – Swung From The Branches 10. Mark McGuire – Living With Yourself 09. Coma Cinema – Stoned Alone 08. Twin Sister - Color Your Life EP 07. Toro Y Moi – Causers of This 06. Julian Lynch – Mare 05. Candy Claws – Hidden Lands 04. Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest 03. Baths – Cerulean 02. Future Islands – In Evening Air 01. Beach House – Teen Dream
With a bouncing beat, a simple guitar riff and vocals like your reflection on a pond on a windy day Craft Spells has given us a great tune. This will help you get up and moving on your day at no matter what point that is.
“I first heard Soft Cat through the excellent Ecliptic Odious One compilation put out by late and great Delicious Scopitone. The entire compilation is wondrous, featuring many bands I now consider standards, some even blowing up to become leading bands in 2010. And even with such incredble music being offered, Silver Babies Sun was a stand-out track, an unexpected folky malaise that throughout its almost six minute duration, kept me hushed. It’s the type of song you look for when going through some emitional upheaval or event, not to languish, but to be briefly uplifted by a kindered or empathetic spirit that offers companionship during an otherwise lonely experience.”
2010 was an amazing year. I started Dead As Digital in January having finally moved on from actually making and playing music, but wanting to stay as connected to it as possible.
It did that and so much more.
Once I started getting submissions, my world opened up to include types of music I really hadn’t spent much time with before. Electronic music had always been something to the side of what I was interested in, but not something that I actively sought out. With the discovery of artists like Star Slinger, James Blake, Gold Panda, and Young Montana?, that very much changed.
While this spot could easily be occupied by Star Slinger’s “May I Walk With You”, Gold Panda’s “You”, or James Blake’s “CMYK”, it’s Young Montana?’s “Sacre Cool” that has opened my eyes every morning since I got it as the first song I pop on in the morning.
It starts my day with just the right amount of swagger, and pop. It’s just too… Damn… Cool.
Star Slinger Stephen Farris (+ Cosmic Sound alias) WALSH (aka Brandon Biondo) Yellow Ostrich Holy Spirits - feel a little biased on this one but I still love it. Com Truise PEPEPIANO Gold Panda Shigeto Mux Mool Javelin Baths Mutual Benefit The Stuyvesants Space Ghost
7. Chrome Sparks “I’ll Be Wait For Sadness Comes Along” Selected By Smoke Don’t Smoke
This song is one of those songs that hooked me the first time I listened to it. It envelopes you with it’s warmth, just in time to grab you as the beat staggers, skips…then drops. This song was one that made it’s way into my psyche and demanded constant repetition. Those kinds of songs are few and far between. Jeremy Malvin is the Michigan bro behind Chrome Sparks, and he’s promised a forthcoming EP which I’m really excited to add to my repertoire.
How To Dress Well was a big part of my 2010. Mostly because I spent a lot of time trying to wrap my head around this very unique, minimalist sound. After months of poking around on HTDW’s Soundcloud and blog, I was thrilled to hear the full length, Love Remains. Among this collection of ethereal, lo-fi R&B stood out “Endless Rain” which slowly builds up as an acapella before it lets loose the hardest beat on the album. What’s unique about the hip-hoppy beat is that it drops in bursts around Tom Krell’s vocals - efficiently emphasizing each line of lyric and briefly pausing in between. I’ll remember this song from 2010 because it caught me off guard and made me work to understand and appreciate it.
1. Twin Sister - Color Your Life 2. Com Truise - Cyanide Sisters 3. Wild Nothing - Golden Haze 4. Teen Daze - Four More Years 5. Games - That We Play 6. Coolrunnings - Babes Forever 7. Memoryhouse - The Years 8. Evenings - North Dorm 9. DOM - Sun Bronzed Greek Gods 10. Kiss Kiss Fantastic - The Red/Blue Shift 11. Tanlines - Settings 12. We Are Trees - Boyfriend 13. Blackbird Blackbird - Happy High 14. Millionyoung - Sunndreamm 15. Exray’s - Ammunition Teeth
9. Kiss Kiss Fantastic “Dancing And Disintegrating” Selected By No Fear Of Pop
This song is like life.
Like balloons and dancing and laughing and crying and dreaming of your childhood and dreaming of the things that still lie ahead of you. While it lasts, and you listen closely to this sweetest of all melodies, you feel happiness and pain at once, that kind of sadness that makes you smile because you realize you are alive.
But after not even two minutes, all of a sudden it ends, painfully quick and way too soon.
So, press play again, start all over. After all, this is just a song.
10. Dead Ghosts “How The West Was Fun” Selected By Rollo & Grady
Vancouver’s Dead Ghosts remind me of Black Lips circa 2003. The band stands out in the crowded garage rock space by infusing just the right amount of country twang into their music. “How The West Was Fun” is a Rock ‘n’ Roll hoedown about best friends, getting fucked up, and fishing. I love that the first few chords of the song are similar to the ones used by Johnny Cash on “Cocaine Blues”. The band recently released a full-length album on Florida’s Dying label <http://www.floridasdying.com/> . They are definitely worth checking out.
Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest Atlas Sound – Databank Sessions – Vol. 1-4 Paul Carey – Ghost Of A Man Broken Bells – S/T Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – I Learned The Hard Way Lower Dens – Twin-Hand Movement The Black Keys – Brothers The National – High Violet Harlem – Hippies Phosphorescent – Here’s To Taking It Easy Calibro 35 – Ritornano Quelli Di… White Denim – Last Day Of Summer Demon’s Claws – The Defrosting of Walt Disney The Budos Band - III Wild Nothing - Gemini
11. Big Troubles “Freudian Slips” Selected By Weed
Probably the only thing I loved about living in New York last year was getting to see Big Troubles on a regular basis. I’ll never forget the first time I saw them—the first time I ever went to Shea Stadium. They just crushed me so hard that night, and they made being in a band look so effortless and badass (again). I don’t know if Alex and Ian coordinate their moves. Probably not. Seems like they’re just kind of aware of the best parts of their songs, and know why to drop their heads towards their guitars at the same time because they just lead chilled-out lifestyles. Anyway the record finally came out in August and it’s great. To put it in perspective I listened to this song more this year than I did to “Everlong” in 7th grade.
12. Coma Cinema “Her Sinking Sun” Selected By Ghost Animal
I had a lot of trouble deciding which song to pick for this. While Idon’t think the year was particularly strong in releases (2011 already seems much more promising, with buddies Craft Spells’s first LP and Coma Cinema’s Blue Suicide), there have been some absolutely phenomenal and gorgeous songs put out in the last twelve months.
Among them, one stands out: Coma Cinema’s “Her Sinking Sun” which will be on his forthcoming (and, unfortunately, 2011 release, so I can’t include it in my top albums of 2010!) release Blue Suicide. I really don’t know what to say about this song other than it’s probably the most beautiful song I’ve heard all year. Beautiful, morose, slightly haunting, with wordless backups and an octave-apart melody line and the least possible instrumentation, Mat Cothran is truly a master of making something out of nearly nothing.
And then there are the lyrics: there’s always something sad but sinister about Mat’s lyrics that I can’t quite put my finger on: he’s sarcastic and sincere at the same time, lonely but laughing. “Torn apart from everyone, her sinking sun, I watch it die.” There’s always something just off screen in Mat’s songs, some secret no one knows about even though he seems to lay bare everything and anything. I’ve been listening to Coma Cinema since before Stoned Alone came out, and Mat has grown so astoundingly as an artist and a songwriter that I am simply incapable of describing it. “Her Sinking Sun” (along with other gorgeous Blue Suicide cut standout “Eva Angelina”, which would have been my selection but it isn’t available for download anywhere) is without a doubt not only Cothran’s most gorgeous, beautiful, and affecting song to date, but also perhaps one of the best we’ve seen this year. I also have to mention, because it inspired me and lead to meeting one of the best friends I’ve made, Craft Spells’s digital single, “The Fog Rose High” & “You Should Close the Door.” Marisa and I have gotten very close with the Crafties, as we call them, in the last few months, especially Justin. These two songs are without a doubt the two best pop songs of the year, and I can’t wait for their debut Idle Labor to drop next year. It’s going to fucking slay.
1. Beach Fossils - S/T 2. Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts 3. Wavves - King of the Beach 4. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs 5. Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be 6. Active Child - Curtis Lane EP 7. The National - High Violet 8. Zola Jesus - Stridulum EP 9. Surfer Blood - Astro Coast 10. Wild Nothing - Golden Haze EP 11. Beach House - Teen Dream 12. Baths - Cerulean 13. Coma Cinema - Stoned Alone 14. Cloud Nothings - Turning On 15. Harlem - Hippies
About a month ago, Nathaniel gave us a first taste of his aptitude for motion collage with this beautiful clip from Holy Spirits Afternoon’s Blood.
Now, he uses those skills to stunningly re-create his process for putting together the artwork for the recent Collaborations release. It’s an amazing glimpse into the inner workings of the mind of my favorite collage artists, and his creative process as well as the perfect backing to the Gem Club and Holy Spirits track “Fingertips” from that same release.
I can’t overstate how important working with Nathaniel was for this release, or the time and effort he put into making it come about. Without him, it would have been half the project it is.
Song Premiere:Holy Spirits and Gem Club “Fingertips” From The Collaborations cassette (Limited Edition of 100)
Early in July, I, together with Dave from Stadiums and Shrines, and Cam from The Road Goes Ever On came together with a plan. Having noticed the increasing number of collaborations happening between (mostly) DIY artists we decided to capture this movement. What was intriguing about these joinings was that in some cases enormous geographical distances separated most of the artists and quite a few had never even met in person. Not that to say this had never happened before, but the regularity with which it was occurring was amazing.
The plan was to release a tape that captured this rising trend in a bubble. We wanted to preserve the artists both in their personal infancy (The majority of the artists on the tapes had risen to prominence only within the last year) and in the infancy of their long distance creative joinings. Each of the us tapped some of our favorite artists and asked them if they’d like to release a track for a cassette/digital release, the catch being that the track had to be in collaboration with another artist. The task ranged in difficulty for each selected pair. For example, Edmonton, Canada’s Kumon Plaza and Los Angeles’ Rachel Levy, who had already collaborated on an albums worth of songs. For others it was a whole new enterprise. New York’s Holy Spirits and Massachusetts’ Gem Club had a mutual respect for each other, but had never collaborated on anything together, or even talked about it. But slowly the artists started pairing off. From Manchester, England to Texas (Star Slinger and Pandit), Sydney, Australia to South Carolina (Guerre and Top Girls) and Laguna Beach to the UK (Pepepiano and Warm Waves) they found each other. Musicians sent tracks via file sharing services and e-mailed in abundance, sharing ideas and building something out of nothing. Distances it would have taken months to travel just 100 years ago proved to be no barrier as the “send” button quelled the significant distance.
The artists participating and tracks submitted ranged significantly in styles: from the beat heavy sample based hip-hop soul of Star Slinger to the fuzzy R&B of Top Girls to the electronic nostalgia pop of Teen Daze and Warm Waves. Gem Club, Holy Spirits and Pandit with their intimate dream-pop and Ghost Animal with his blend of fuzz rock. Despite this wide stylistic differences, somehow all the tracks seems to fit together like pieces of a puzzle.
In the end, I think everyone involved in this project is just extremely proud of what we’ve finished with. these tracks will stand up under any scrutiny. A beautiful ode to the digital age and the power of collaboration.
The “Collaborations” tape is currently up for Pre-order on http://www.weget.by, a new tape label based out of Los Angeles.
Other than 1 track which is exclusive to the tape, the tape will be released for free download on the 1st. However, we’d love for you to order it. This tape is professionally dubbed, from uncompressed audio files directly from the Master recording. It’s also printed with mind-blowing artwork by Nathaniel Whitcomb over at www.thinkorsmile.com. Nothing about this was skimped on. Putting something like this out physically is something that’s important to us, and your support on that will be what determines our ability to do that in the future. We also encourage every one who buys the tape to feel free to re-dub it and distribute it (for free obviously) to friends. Let’s take mixtapes back to the medium they belong on!
In exchange for buying it, you will receive a link to d/l the tape (minus the exclusive track) a full week before it’s release, you will also get the exclusive Ghost Animal/Rachel Levy track that is will only ever be released on this analog version, as well as whatever else we can come up with to surprise you.
As a teaser, featured above is one of the songs that will be on the tape. A truly amazing collaboration between Holy Spirits and Gem Club that for me highlights what can be done by these artists when they get together. “Fingertips” features a flawless string covered instrumental track, intwined with haunting vocals resulting in a track that feels so beautifully personal and pulls together so well, you can’t imagine these two haven’t been working together for years.
Be sure to check out and Download Cam’s featured song from the tape by Teen Daze and Jaded Hipster Choir, as well as an extremely special cover Dave will be releasing at Stadiums and Shrines at some point in the upcoming day.
Side A 1. Top Girls and Guerre “Melt” 2. Teen Daze and Jaded Hipster Choir “Low Glow” 3. Weed and Foxes In Fiction “Teenage Dream” (Katy Perry Cover) 4. Closed Cassette and Top Girls “For Now” 5. Ghost Animal and Rachel Levy - “We Don’t Care”* 6. Ghost Houses – “Ritual”
Side B
7. Holy Spirits and Gem Club - “Fingertips” 8. Seeing Suge (Star Slinger, Emay, Blackbird Blackbird) - “Breaking (DEMO)” 9. Pepepiano and Warm Waves - “Air” 10. Gay Boiz (Kumon Plaza and Rachel Levy) - “High Level Alchemy” 11. Star Slinger and Pandit - “Self Love”
Daily Doses: Holy Spirits “White Walls” From The Afternoon’s Blood (2010)
The Summer’s coming to a close.
It’s drifting down slowly. Not yet the crack of lightning, and the splash of rain that comes with Fall. Nor the heavy silence, and weighed down branches of Winter… But the clouds are gathering.
New York’s Holy Spirits are those clouds. Rolling in from the east, dark and filled with long sweeping winds. The kind of winds that croon their dark organ sounds across the sky, filling it with their wistful harmonies. The kind of winds that pull the leaves from trees as they pass, leaving them twisting to the ground in their wake. The kind of winds that stir up the oceans, and pickup waves to push them ever farther up the sand, until they claw at the very cliffs.
